In terms of color tone and corrosion resistance, stainless steel, a cemented carbide including a main hard phase composed of tungsten carbide, and a coated member obtained by plating a metal substrate have been used for decorative parts having a silver metallic color tone.
However, stainless steel is easily scratched by contact with a hard material. A cemented carbide has a higher specific gravity than a metal material such as stainless steel and thus the weight of products is increased. A coated member also does not necessarily have sufficient scratch resistance or wear resistance. In addition, the constituent elements of the plating react with sweat and are leached out, which may result in metal allergy.
Therefore, the ceramic materials disclosed in PTLs 1 to 6 have been proposed to address the problems above.